From Blair pop to Brown classical8230;

... and was he the last interventionist? A look at what the world said as Tony Blair stepped down as British premier

8226; I have written before that it is an indictment of our system of government that Tony Blair was able to remain in office despite Iraq. Even if he was not culpable of deception, as he insists he was not, even if he only ever did what he thought was right, he was guilty of the grossest misjudgment 8212; one that has led to the deaths of at least 118 British service personnel, along with as many as 655,000 Iraqis. For that mistake alone, even if it was an honest one, he should have paid with his job.

From a comment by Jonathan Freedland, 8216;The Guardian8217;, UK, June 27

8226; The day had to come when everyone realised Britain deserved better than a scandal-prone, sound-bite leadership. And so Gordon Brown was the man. The pendulum swing from Blair pop to Brown classical seems polar in proportions, but was not meant to be so. Blair8217;s failures and successes, and scandals, could thus be shared by his cabinet colleagues including Brown. So Brown could only be a heavier shade of Blair.

From a comment by Bunn Nagara, 8216;The Malaysia Star8217;, Malaysia, June 27

8226; The Howard government regularly tells the Australian Labour Party it should be more like New Labour, which refused to wind back industrial reforms introduced under the conservatives and made it clear to the unions it was the government that was in charge.

From a news analysis in 8216;The Sydney Morning Herald8217;, Australia, June 27

8226; Blair overcame significant opposition within his own party and in Britain as a whole to take part in the Iraq war, staying the course unapologetically until his last day in power despite the near unanimous verdict that it had fatally marked his premiership.

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From a comment by Anshal Pfeffer, 8216;The Jerusalem Post8217;, Israel, June 27

8226; Tony Blair8217;s administration was branded and packaged by relentless public relations. Everything was first and last about perception and presentation. His people cajoled, begged, charmed, bribed, flattered and postured to make the electorate love them. And in return, the electorate hated them even more for being so embarrassingly transparent and shamelessly insincere.

While it proved to be true that politicians couldn8217;t fool all of the people all of the time, it seems to also be true that the public can despise all politicians all of the time.

From a comment by A.A. Gill,8216;International Herald Tribune8217;, June 26

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8226; Blair is the last interventionist. Neither his successor, Gordon Brown, nor Bush8217;s successor, whoever he or she turns out to be, will soon be able to mount another intervention similar to that in Kosovo, let alone Iraq.

From a comment by David Rieff, 8216;The Daily Star8217;, Lebanon, June 26

8226; The most noteworthy success is that Blair has taken African issues from the periphery of Britain8217;s foreign policy agenda to a new sense of activism and urgency. In a nutshell, Tony Blair has transformed Britain8217;s Africa policy into one that is ethical and has made the UK a reliable partner for Africa.

That is Blair8217;s Africa legacy.

From a comment by Alfredo Tjurimo Hengari, 8216;All Africa8217;, Namibia, June 22

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8226; Blair has consistently been economical with the truth. He decided to support the Iraq invasion even though he was fully aware of the fact that there were no weapons of mass destruction to be found in the country and that his American friends had apparently no concrete plans for post-Saddam Iraq8230; In order to qualify as a Middle East peace envoy, he must be showing off his achievements in this regard. But8230; he has none to his credit actually!

From an editorial in 8216;Khaleej Times8217;, UAE, 27 June

Compiled by Mahima Kaul